Lebanon, OH – Making his first start in over four months, Little Rocket Man (John DeLong) made his debut at Miami Valley a memorable one. The seven year old son of Rockin Image captured the $28,000 Open Handicap in 1:51, beating a quality field that included runner-up Big Fritz (Brett Miller) and show finisher Let It Ride N (Dan Noble).

Little Rocket Man is the best at Miami Valley on Sunday night. Conrad photo.

After a pair of qualifying race tune-ups, his regular reinsman chose to race Little Rocket Man conservatively for most of the initial three-quarters of the featured mile, sitting sixth until halfway around the final turn. That is when DeLong asked for response and did he ever receive one.

Little Rocket Man was spotting the frontrunner Big Teddy (Brandon Bates) approximately half a dozen lengths halfway down the backstretch of the five-eighths mile oval. Little Rocket Man was awarded a final panel in :27 as he circled the field to secure the victory.

The winner returned $10.80, the exacta kicked back $126.40, and the 50-cent trifecta was worth $129.40.

It was the 38th win of an illustrious career as one of the Midwest’s best open pacers in recent years, who was making his first start for new trainer Ken Rucker. A winner of over half his lifetime starts, Little Rocket Man has banked $691,399 for owners Russell Beeman and Jack Freeman.

Robert Again (Jordan Ross) was victorious in a $25,000 Open II over Makin Some Noise (Brett Miller) and Kashed Up A (Tyler Smith). Ross sat in the pocket behind Makin Some Noise as some quick fractions were reeled off, then popped the two-hole at the head of the stretch to triumph by just over a length in 1:50.

The five-year-old by Tellitlikeitis has now visited 16 winners circles and earned $186,869 for owner Frederick Linz. It was his first win in four tries in 2023, but Robert Again stopped the teletimer in style eight times during 2022. Adam Short is the conditioner.

First leg action also took place on Sunday in the George Williams Memorial late closer for male pacers who were non-winners of 4 pari-mutuel races or $40,000. The $15,000 divisions were carded and the winners were Always-A-Laser (Mike Peterson, 1:53.3, $43.00 to win), Chronicle (Austin Hanners, 1:53.2, $8) and Threshold (Trace Tetrick, 1:52.2, $5.20).
An accident in the 13th race resulted in the judge’s declaring the race “No Contest.” A horse suffered a broken bit as the horses were leaving the starting gate and caused interference to others in the field. Outrider Courtney Beatty did a fantastic job controlling the loose horse and all the horses and drivers were unharmed.

Miami Valley races on a Sunday through Thursday schedule with post time at 4 p.m. Program pages are available at: www.miamivlleygaming.com by clicking the “Racing” tab and scrolling to the bottom of the page.